Front doors provide a strong design element

Landscaping can be done in stages

The sidewalk will have to be levelled and the step under the door needs to be enlarged to the width and length of the entry space.

Photograph by: Suzanne Rowe
, The Gazette

From the street, this shy little house has no visible front door since it is hidden on one side of a newer structural entry addition.

Although a door is a relatively small surface of a facade, it also is a strong element from which the design of a landscaping plan starts and where the end result is achieved with a pop of colour like a cherry on a sundae.

The spacing between the windows did not allow the installation of shutters that could have instilled a subtle and flattering accompaniment to a new proposed wall colour.

The invitation towards the hidden front door could be obtained with the concentration of textures and coloursaturated vegetation near the entry and also from the tailored-look of the silver hedge of ground cover beside the pathway.

The aluminum siding will be renewed in a warm greenish beige with an exterior acrylic paint in a matte finish.

If replacement of the windows is out of the question right now, heftier seven centimetre plain wood mouldings around the existing windows and stained opaque white would provide a bolder contrast with the siding.

To unify the windows, matching white lattice should also be added inside the two centre windows. Under these and in a rich eye-catching oxblood tint, deep wooden flower boxes will adopt the same colour in a semi-gloss finish as their sidekick door.

A single climbing Lonicera with its trumpet-like red flowers could decorate two red-stained trellises installed on each side of the left corner of the home and would attract hummingbirds all summer. A 10-centimetre distance between the walls and the structures is necessary to insure good air circulation and a happy, cooler plant.

In front of the extension of the entry, the rounded flower bed is created by using as a compass a long string attached on a stick in the ground on the right corner and pulled tight to the left corner of the addition.

Then as you go towards the walkway, Popsicle sticks are planted every 25 centimetres to indicate the shape of a quarter circle. Then remove the lawn inside and mix in a few bags of good garden soil and compost.

A border of some sort is needed to prevent the unfortunate marriage of the more aggressive grass growth and the newly planted vegetation. For curved shapes, as well as straight lines, an inexpensive professional five-inch high black plastic divider is a good alternative if installed correctly with extra metal pegs. A four-inch deep black mulch carpet around the plants and the overlapping spreading perennials will hide the top of the plastic border.

The landscaping could be done in stages. First, the climbing Lonicera on the trellises, the annuals in the flower boxes, the three potentillas under the two left windows and the two or three persistent shrubs under the boxes. Then the line of lamium near the walk and the perennials in the flower bed.

The sidewalk will have to be levelled and the step under the door needs to be enlarged to the width and length of the entry space.

Even without a visible door, the little house will look very handsome. Beautiful things often come in small packages.

Vegetation (from left to right):

- Prunus X Cistena (1+1 shrubs, red leaves)

- Lonicera Dropmore Scarlet (climbing on trellis)

- Juniperus Chinensis Gold Lace (conifer)

- Potentilla Fructicosa Abbotswood (three shrubs, white flowers)

- Catharanthus Roseus Syn. Vinca Rosa white annuals, boxes)

- Cotoneaster Dammeri Coral Beauty (two to three persistent shrubs)

- Campanula Carpatica (two to five perennials, white flowers)

- Asclepias Tuberosa (one to three perennials, orange flowers)

- Euonymus Fortunei Emerald'n Gold (persistent shrub)

- Bellis Perennis (three to five perennials, red flowers)

- Salix Caprea Pendula (ornamental tree)

- Lamium (silver ground cover perennials, hedge walkway)

HOUSEWARMING: Most homes can use a little help when it comes to warming up their curb appeal. If you'd like some inexpensive ideas on how to improve the appearance of your home, send a clear photo of your house with your commentary to: Suzanne Rowe, Designer, suro@bell.net. Because of the volume of email she receives, it is not possible for her to individually reply to each correspondent.

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